Ja Morant goes sky-high for a big dunk only to clank the ball off the back rim
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Two-time All-Star Ja Morant took to the air and pulled the ball back in his right hand ready to throw down a massive dunk during the third quarter.
The ball clanked off the back of the rim Sunday night. Morant fell to the floor.
So much for not dunking to avoid injuries.
Morant also knows exactly what went wrong against the New Orleans Pelicans with Trey Murphy III getting in his way with 6:12 left in the third.
“The way we're going towards the rim, a spot where I can take off and dunk from pretty easily,” Morant said in the locker room. “But had somebody in between me and the rim. Still got to finish it though. Another almost.”
Morant finished the Grizzlies' 107-104 win with 32 points and now has strung together back-to-back games scoring at least 30 for the first time this season. The guard has been sidelined at times by an injured hip and is working through a right shoulder injury, limiting him to 40 games this season for Memphis. Morant was at his best in the fourth quarter helping Memphis finish off the win with 11 of the Grizzlies' 18 points.
Desmond Bane also had 30, and Morant said his teammate is in an incredible rhythm. That's why they keep telling Bane to just keep it up.
“I feel like I’m getting there,” Morant said of himself. “Still some struggles, but I’m just making the best of it. I’m out there on the floor, not trying to make too much excuses but just trying to go out there and get a win. ... I don't think I'm all the way there yet. I got some room to go. Just trying to get healthy.”
Memphis (40-24) currently is fourth in the Western Conference with back-to-back wins and need Morant healthy and at his best once the playoffs start.
Morant left the court shoeless. The man with his own Nike Ja 1 shoe played in a pair decorated to honor New Orleans with the title of a local song on the back that Morant danced to during a win over the Pelicans in December 2023. He autographed the shoes for the song's artist.
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